Hitherto, in a cooker, for example, a high frequency heating apparatus, the menu has been subdivided in order to cook without failure. In addition, by the recent progress in sensor technology, automation and functional sophistication of cooking have been advanced. As a result, by the increase in the number of keys in the operating apparatus and sharing of keys, the operation is complicated, and it is less easier to use. Still more, in the conventional operating apparatus, the display unit and operation unit were placed at different positions. It was hence necessary to observe the display unit and operation unit separately, and handling was confusing, and wrong handling tended to occur.
On the other hand, a microwave oven is proposed as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication 4-9524. The operation unit of this microwave oven comprises expensive and complicated liquid crystal display and transparent electrode switch sheet. In this constitution, the operation unit is complicated in the assembling work structurally, and the display is poor in transparency, and the life of the display unit is short.
A conventional operating apparatus is described specifically below. As a conventional high frequency heating apparatus, a microwave oven is described by referring to FIG. 10. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a main body of a conventional high frequency heating apparatus. In FIG. 10, at the front side of the main body 39 of the high frequency heating apparatus, there are plural display units 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, operation units 36, 37, and a door 38 opening and closing for putting food in and out of heating compartment. In this constitution, the display units and operation units are in different layout. Therefore, it is required to observe plural positions while operating. As a result, it is hard to confirm the operating state. It is inconvenient to use because it is required to refer to both display units and operation units during manipulation. It is further possible to select wrong operation keys or fail in cooking. Still worse, it is expensive, poor in productivity, and short in life.